As Dr. Rogers notes in her committee report
elsewhere in this issue, we are in the midst of changing our website host
from the University of Pittsburgh to a commercial firm. The editorial
board overseeing the site will be expanded and updates and deletions will
be made directly by the board member responsible for a particular section
of the site. Paul Dickman will remain the majordomo. As part of this
initiative, we will be creating a web-based newsletter to replace the
printed version that you are accustomed to receiving. Each quarter, you
will be notified by e-mail that the new newsletter has been posted on the
web. It is extremely important that you inform the Society administrative
office of your current e-mail address as soon as possible. It is also
important that you keep this information up to date, as additional
important Society functions likely will be transferred to the web as we
continue to streamline our operations. The savings created by converting
from a printed newsletter to an electronic one is considerable and will
contribute to the financial stability of our organization. There may be a
few members who still lack Internet access. We can print a copy of the
newsletter from the web and mail this to members who fall into that
category, but requests for such must be made directly to the
administrative office. The computer is now a vital part of our practice
and pleading computer illiteracy is no longer a tenable position to hold.

This summer newsletter brings important
information on changes in our operation that will inevitably affect
Society management. The move of the website should lead to more efficient
communication with members, will provide a more stable environment for the
dissemination of Society news and events and, hopefully, will lead to
improved member services. The value of the website is in the opportunity
for continuous contact, rather than the intermittent appearance of the
Newsletter, and even less frequent meetings. The pedpath listserve has
provided a forum for informal discussion and interaction and it fulfills
this role well, but it is not a substitute for an effective website. The
leadership of Beverly Rogers and the support of Art Weinberg in the
movement of the website have been invaluable, and I am personally grateful
to them both for their efforts to make the website/newsletter combination
an effective tool for Society management.

The relatively small size of our Society
has made for an intimacy that is quite enviable, but to some extent we
have given this up for centralized office management. Our move to a
central office provided improved continuity of some managerial tasks and
relieved Society officers from many onerous chores, but other problems
have surfaced. It has become clear that some of our expectations for the
role of the central office were either misunderstood or unrealistic. The
central office faults the Society for failing to take full advantage of
its management team, while Society leadership has been reluctant to hand
over many organizational tasks to the central office for a variety of
reasons. It is often not clear who is responsible for carrying a project
through to completion, and much of the work of the Society is still being
done by volunteer members who take ownership of issues and directly
address the tasks at hand. Members have experienced some frustration in
this environment and don’t know where to turn. This is not the vision
that prompted our move to professional management. Nor, to be fair, does
our management office view this as a satisfactory situation. There has
been a continual re-examination of the role of the central office in the
functioning of our Society, but changes in scope of their responsibilities
have been relatively minor. It may seem to some that we have been slow to
take advantage of new opportunities afforded by our website, but we will
soon have an improved management tool with an organizational structure
that should allow us to better handle our routine affairs in ways that,
historically, have been more comfortable for our members. Our operations
will evolve, as we become more experienced with the use of this new
technology.

On another note, later this summer the
membership will be polled on the issue of monetary support for the bound
volumes of Perspective in Pediatric Pathology that have been compiled from
the Perspectives articles that lead each issue of Pediatric and
Developmental Pathology. This poll will arrive as a separate mailing,
rather than as an insert to the Newsletter. The Publications Committee and
Council require the guidance of the membership in this area. Please look
for this poll, consider the information provided carefully, and return
your response. The poll results will be discussed at the Interim Meeting
in Vancouver and will shape Society policy in this area.

The upcoming Interim Meeting promises to be
interesting, with a wonderful venue and a stellar symposium and scientific
and social programs. Meanwhile, enjoy your summer, and I’ll see you in
September - in Vancouver.

Ben Landing was a great teacher and mentor who was blessed with a creative,
fertile mind and a photographic memory. But he was a lot more than an
intellect. He was REAL-very human and sincerely interested in his trainees and
colleagues. He was reserved, but had a great sense of humor, often subtle, as
with everything else about him. His modest demeanor and lack of arrogance made
him approachable and easy to talk to. He was available to his trainees at any
time. But he was no saint. He had enough foibles to make him interesting and
human. He did not like administration or administrators. He was generous, but
often to a fault. He smoked too much. His dichotomy of greatness and
understated elegance is rarely encountered. We who had the privilege of
working with him will not forget the legend or the man. Ben Landing's passing
is sad, but his life was exhilarating.

Beverly Dahms

Ben was a Gentle Man, slow to speak ill of others, fast to respond to the
needs of others, and always available to participate, at his own expense, in
meetings anywhere in the world. He amazed us with the depth and breadth of his
knowledge, apparently never having forgotten a case, an anecdote, or a name in
his entire life. Always able to put a novel spin on any conundrum, to place
anatomical analysis on a physiological and functional basis, and to spot the
abnormality we mortals had overlooked. Few if any of us were able to get close
to Ben the Man, but all of us loved Ben the Teacher, Ben the Role Model, Ben
the Inspiration.Yet part of Ben still lives in hundreds of us, and will be
passed on to those we teach.

Bruce Beckwith

Ben was a legend in his own time and his passing leaves a tremendous void.
But his legacy is phenomenal testimony to what one individual can accomplish,
not only through his own research, but also through the mentoring of so many
pediatric pathologists. I would not be surprised if Ben taught directly or
indirectly a third of the pediatric pathologists in the entire world. Although
far smarter than most of us and armed with a photographic memory, he was a
gentle man of patient manner and never elevated his stature by denigrating his
colleagues and trainees. He will be sorely missed, but dearly remembered.

John Emery, Emeritus Professor
of Pediatric Pathology, University of Sheffield, tragically died from smoke
inhalation on May 1, 2000 while attempting to retrieve his dog from his
blazing home. Small in stature but huge in the breadth and depth of his
knowledge, intellectual vigor and talent as an artist and poet. He will be
remembered as a man of fearless integrity and compassion with a teasing,
twinkling in his eyes.

In 1947 he was appointed consultant pathologist
for the newly established Children’s Hospital in Sheffield where he remained
for the next 33 years, and where he became Professor and Chairman of Pediatric
Pathology.

His early publications covered a wide range of
subjects including particularly hydrocephalus and developmental pathology.
Motivated by the loss of his first child, he became interested in sudden
infant death. Although he published widely on the pathology of crib death, his
major interest in recent years was the establishment of a program CONI (Care
of Next Infant). This was developed through a system of confidential inquiries
into infant deaths and has formed part of the British Department of Health
Confidential Inquiries into Stillbirths and Deaths in infancy now used
throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This program provides a system
of practical support to all parents having a subsequent child following crib
death.

John Emery was a fellow of the Royal College of
pediatrics and Child Health and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of
Medicine. In 1987 he received the James Spence Medal from the British
Pediatric Association, the only pathologist to receive this honor. In 1976 he
set up a committee to integrate the worldwide Pediatric Pathology Societies,
and in 1978 the International Pediatric Association was established. In 1979
he instituted the Advance Courses in Pediatric Pathology. He received numerous
honors and awards and served on many editorial boards including Pediatric
Pathology and Archives of Disease in Childhood. He had over 355 publications,
many chapters in textbooks and several books.

Other than Pediatric Pathology he was a noted
artist and past President of the Sheffield Fine Art Society. Those who knew
John never thought of him without his sketchbook. He would sit in meetings
sketching the speaker as well as members of the audience. He is said to have
had over 300 sketchbooks. He enjoyed writing poetry and had been President of
the Sheffield Literary Society. Each year his friends would receive his most
recent addition of poems, many designated as “Grandfather’s Folly”. John
Emery is survived by his wife, Mytts, to whom he was happily married for
almost 60 years, six children and 18 grandchildren.

Bruce Beckwith has written “it is
inexpressibly sad that this year has deprived Pediatric Pathology the mortal
presence of two of its greatest-perhaps even its two greatest names: John
Emery and Ben Landing”.

Enid Gilbert-Barness

(You may wish to reread Founders of Pediatric
Pathology: John Emery by AH Cameron in Perspectives in Perspectives in
Pediatric Pathology 1992:16:1-6)

Virginia Baldwin, retired since 1999, will begin
a two-year Diploma Program in Textile Art in September. “It was quite a shock
to go back to campus and feel as though I had dropped into the largest day care
site in the country - did we look that young then? I’m looking forward to
gaining some tools to turn design ideas into fabric and fibre art. When you
think of it, our job is pattern recognition, and there are wonderful patterns in
the daily turn of pathology. So I'll be looking to blend my past and future. I'm
not sure what I'll do with placental patterns yet, but I'll think of something.”

Roger Williams stepped down as Chief of Pathology
at Children’s Hospital of Oakland to serve as president of the medical staff.
Jon Rowland, from LA Children’s, is the new chief.

Denise Malicki joined Henry Krous’ department
in San Diego after completing her fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital.

The Website is the headline news for this
quarter. We are in the process of moving the site to a commercial venture called
Health IT, Inc., and are currently updating and redesigning the site. The move should
be accomplished in the next few months; we will let you know when this occurs.
One of the major initiatives will be to place the e-mail addresses of our
members into a single file, so that information can be disseminated to all
members through the network. We will let you know via e-mail when important
announcements are posted on the Website, so it is very important to assure that
your e-mail address on file with the Central Office is accurate and up to date.
Dr. Weinberg will also be moving the newsletter onto the Website. We will no
longer have a print version, which will result in significant savings to the
Society. Instructions for getting information posted onto the Website will be
forthcoming following the move.

Dr. Benjamin has moved to Forth Worth (yes, that’s
in Texas) to become director at Cook Children’s. For now, he is keeping the
editorial office in Seattle, where Linda Siebert continues as his editorial
assistant, so manuscripts should still be submitted to the Seattle editorial
office address. Please keep Pediatric and Developmental Pathology in mind when
you consider where to submit your manuscripts. It is extremely important to keep
quality manuscripts coming to our journal.

Long Term Planning Committee:
Derek Da Sa

The committee will meet on SATURDAY 23rd Sept,
after Lunch. The main items to be discussed will be based on the discussions at
the Millennium Lunch the proceeding Friday. Topics for discussion include (a)
the relationship between the SPP and the Perinatal Interest Group, (b) the role
of formalized transfer periods between different centres during Fellowship
training, (c) other topics to be decided on. Each Millennium table will have a
"moderator/leader" of the discussion, who will be responsible for
bringing the gist of the discussion at his/her table to the Saturday meeting of
the LTP. It is hoped that this will give everyone a chance to consider the
matters, express an opinion, and have their voice heard in the LTP. The list of
topics is neither exclusive nor carved in stone; if there are other issues that
may impact on the future development of the SPP, these can be raised at the
lunch as well. This particular format was chosen to allow a combination of a
wide expression of views, as well as a manageable LTP meeting.

Nominating Committee:Ron Jaffe

The Nomination Committee is seeking suggestions
for nominees for president-elect and two members of Council. Please send your
suggestions to Ron Jaffe, the chair of the committee, as soon as possible. The
committee will consider your input and make its recommendation to Council at the
Vancouver meeting in September.

AUCTION AT THE VANCOUVER MEETING. The list is
impressive.
We can always do with some more! It’s still not too late to submit a donation.

SOLICITATION OF VOLUNTEERS. Any and all members
interested in becoming more involved with the workings of the Society are
strongly encouraged to contact president-elect, Ron Jaffe, as he makes plans for
his forthcoming term as president. He can be reached at jaffer@chplink.chp.edu

The Department of Pathology at the University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine has an opening for an Assistant/Associate
Professor in the tenure stream at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, a
full-service pediatric tertiary institute with a wide range of pediatric
subspecialists and a busy multifaceted transplantation program. We are looking
for an associate who will share in the diagnostic rotation and carve out an area
of special interest. The person we are looking for should be trained and be
board certified or eligible in pediatric pathology. We are hoping to find
someone who is enthusiastic about diagnostic pediatric pathology but also has a
research interest, preferably with a molecular diagnostic component. The
Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh has a wide repertoire of
research interests, and collaborations are encouraged.

Please provide a curriculum vitae and names and
addresses of three references to:

A Developmental and Pediatric Pathology
Fellowship position at Brown University School of Medicine affiliated hospitals
is available for July 1, 2001. This is a two-year training program, certified by
the ACGME, with equal time and emphasis in diagnostic pathology and research.
Fellows will gain experience in diagnosis of genetic and metabolic disease,
infections, neoplasia and malformations, and in pediatric forensic pathology and
neuropathology, utilizing the resources and faculty of Brown University, Women
and Infants’ Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children’s Hospital and
the Office of the Rhode Island Medical Examiner. The yearly case load includes
approximately 175 autopsies, including SIDS and child abuse, 2,5000 surgical
specimens and bone marrow examinations, 1,500 cytogenetic samples, 250 molecular
diagnostic samples, 150 metabolic studies, 3,000 placentas and 1,000
examinations of abortuses, embryos and early fetuses. Candidates must have a MD
degree or equivalent and not less than three years of training equivalent to an
accredited pathology residency in the United States. The stipend will be
appropriate to candidates in the fourth to sixth year of training. Health and
medical malpractice insurance, three weeks of vacation, and travel to scientific
meetings are provided.

The University of South Florida/Tampa General
Hospital/All Children’s Hospital program is seeking applicants for a July
2001-June 2002 fellowship position. The fellowship offers an exciting and
extensive exposure to all aspects of pediatric pathology by combining the
programs at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a teaching hospital for the University
of South Florida, and All Children’s Hospital (ACH) in St. Petersburg. TGH is
a 900-bed hospital with active pediatric and obstetric services and a strong
feto-maternal medicine program. Over 200 perinatal autopsies are performed
annually, which include examination of embryos, fetuses, newborns and pediatric
cases. There is close interaction with the clinical services including a broad
range of teaching and patient management conferences. At ACH, there is a very
active program in molecular techniques, tumor pathology, PCR, FISH, flow
cytometry procedures and research activities in pathology, immunology and
molecular diagnostic pathology. Pediatric clinical pathology, including
hematopathology, is an integral part of the program and the fellow is expected
to participate in some research. The fellowship is approved by the ACGME and is
for 1 year. A second year may be approved. Applicants should be either board
certified or eligible in AP or AP/CP and be from an approved residency program.
The stipend is commensurate with the level of postgraduate training.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas ACGME accredited program in
pediatric pathology has an opening for July 1, 2001. The program is
centered at Children’s Medical Center, a 322 bed tertiary care hospital
that is the pediatric teaching hospital for Southwestern Medical School.
Parkland Memorial Hospital, which has a large obstetrical service, is
integrated into the program. Over 7500 surgical specimens including bone
marrows and placentas were examined in 1999 and there were 135 autopsies,
which spanned the age spectrum of pediatric disease. State of the art Flow
Cytometry, Molecular Diagnostics and Cytogenetics services are available
to the fellow. The fellow serves as liaison between the pathology
department and the various clinical services and mentors pathology
residents who rotate through the department. Numerous teaching conferences
and a large slide study set comprising over 600 cases supplement the
training. It is expected that the fellow will undertake a collaborative
research project during his/her tenure at Children’s. Funding is
provided for travel to national meetings of the Society. The fellowship is
for 1 year, but can be extended to 2 years if the applicant devotes
significant time to research. Applicants must have at least 3 years of AP
or 4 years of AP/CP training in an ACGME accredited program or its
equivalent. An interview is required. More detailed information about our
program may be obtained from our website, http://pathcuric1.swmed.edu,
under fellowships.

I would like to provide you
with information regarding IPPA actvities during the next International
Congress of the IAP in Nagoya, Japan, in October of this year. A summary
of the symposia, slide seminars, short courses, and companion meetings
with interesting topics in pediatric pathology is included in this
newsletter. I am sure that these conferences will be a great success and I
hope that many of you will come to attend at least some of the sessions.
The General Meeting of the IPPA will take place on Wednesday, October 18,
2000, at lunch time. During this General Meeting important questions will
be discussed, including the use of IPPA money for funding and the question
of raising the annual fee for IPPA members from $2US to $3US. In addition
several new members have to be elected to Council. Lilian Coccon-Gibod,
the chairman of Council, and four current members of Council will retire
this year. A new President-Elect has to be nominated.

Traveling to Japan is
expensive especially for people coming from developing countries. The IPPA
provides financial support for up to five younger people to attend the IAP
meeting. Further information is available from the IPPA Secretary.

I hope that many people
will be able to come to Nagoya. Both the city and the Congress will
provide an excellent atmosphere for a fruitful meeting pediatric
pathologists from all over the world.

A national Chinese pediatric
oncology meeting was organized together with the CCSG (William Newton),
supported by the WHO. The Congress of the SIOP, held in Yokohama this year,
was a great success. Many participants came from developing countries. The
International Congress of the IAP in 2000 held in Nagoya was announced.

5) No report of the secretary was
available

6) Report of the treasurer:

The Society is in a good
financial status. A surplus of $15,190US is on the accounts of the Society. A
discussion about the use of this money followed. An increase of the annual fee
from $2US to $3US was proposed (D. Haust) asking for a motion. This was
postponed for two reasons: First the use of the already available money should
be decided, and second, the constituent Societies should discuss this matter
at their own meetings. The point will be discussed again at the next General
Meeting. The following proposals for using the IPPA money were given: 1)
supporting up to five young people to come to the IAP Congress by giving
$500US to each (J. Haas), 2) sponsoring a fellowship for training (D. Haust),
3) supporting meetings in developing countries (R. Kaschula). These points
were discussed and it was voted to follow the guidelines of Council to use the
IPPA money.

7) A letter from a Polish
Pediatric Pathology Society inquiring about application for membership was read
(D. Haust). The letter was forwarded to Council.

9) A. Bourne reported for the
Constitution and Bylaws Committee. It was proposed that the following sentence
should be changed:

3.1.1 Membership is open to any
person with major laboratory interest or concern in diseases
pathology and/or medical diseases of children

The majority of the General
Meeting accepted this change.

10) D. Benjamin, Editor-in-chief
of the Journal Pediatric and Developmental Pathology, reported about the
Journal. The quality and number of submitted manuscripts has increased. The
journal will be indexed in the National Library of Medicine at the end of the
year.

11) J. Berry reported about the
two last IPPA Advanced Courses held in Istanbul, Turkey, 1997 (organized by P.
Barbet and J. Keeling) and Guidel, France, 1998 (organized by P. Barbet and J.
Berry). The next Courses will be in Belfast 1999 and Bristol 2000. The
overwhelming work of Jean Keeling for the Course was approved by the General
Meeting. Jean Keeling announced the Upgrade Course for people having completed
the five IPPA Advanced Courses. It will be held every five years, the first time
in September 2000 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

12) Ceremony

A Past-President patch was
handed to R. Drut by K. Misugi. The President patch was handed to D. Becroft
by K. Misugi. A Past-President patch was handed to K. Misugi by D. Becroft.

13) Future Meetings:

September 2000: SPP Interim
Meeting in Vancouver

Summer 2000: Pathology Meeting in
Zimbabwe (R. Kaschula)

14) It was decided to circulate
the Agenda of the General Meeting prior to the next General Meeting

15) R. Kaschula reported about
the lifetime members (12 to his knowledge) and asked whether these persons are
all still alive. Otherwise a new lifetime membership could be awarded. He asked
for investigation on this topic.

Please include the Degnon office address, phone #
and e-mail address in a box in each newsletter.

The General Meeting of the IPPA
will be on Wednesday, October 18, 2000, at lunchtime. The exact time and the
room will be announced during the Symposium on Pathology of sudden infant death
syndrome (Monday) and the slide seminar on Metabolic diseases diagnosed by liver
biopsy (Tuesday).